Strand serving apparatus



April 29, 1952 Filed Nov. 21, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR J O, HAM/L TON BY W- AT TORNEV v A ril 29, 1952 .1. o. HAMILTON STRAND SERVING APPARATUS 2 SI-lEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Nov. 21, 1950 INVENTOR J O. l-MM/L TON f ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 29, 1952 STRAND SERVING APPARATUS James 0. Hamilton, Dundalk, Md., assigncr to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 21, 1950, Serial No. 196,779

4 Claims.

This invention relates to filament-handling apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for serving a plurality of wires on a conductive core.

The serving of a plurality of strands on an elongated core at high speeds usually has been accomplished in the past by eccentric servers or by concentric servers. Eccentric servers must be heavy in construction, and are of necessity much slower than servers of the concentric type in which a package of wire is placed around a core and the serving head is revolved to apply the strand on the core as the core is advanced therethrough. However, in covering a long core continuously with a concentric server it has been difficult to maintain the strands going to the conductive core under substantially uniform tension and to provide sufficient lengths of the strands to avoid splicing them.

An object of the invention is to provide new and improved filament-handling apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for serving wires on conductive cores.

Another object of the invention'is to provide new and improved apparatus for applying a large number of wires to a conductive core with each of the wires being under the same tension as it is applied.

An apparatus illustrating certain features of the invention may include a reel holder having a plurality of axially spaced shoulders formed thereon and a plurality of reels designed to rest on said shoulders.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following description of an apparatus forming a specific embodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, front elevation of an apparatus forming one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary front elevation of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 with parts thereof broken away to illustrate the invention more clearly;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, partially sectional horizontal view of a winding apparatus.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a server for applying a large number of steel wires 1 -H) to a'conductive core H advanced continuously from a supply reel 12 toward a takeup reel I4 by a capstan I5. The capstanl5 advances theco're H under a sheave I6, through a serving head is and guides 20 and 2|, and over a guide sheave 22. A motor. 24

drives the capstan l5 through a shaft 25 and speed reducing unit 26 of known design. The motor24 also revolves the serving head l8 around the core H through the unit 26, a shaft 2?, gears 28 and 29 and a hollow shaft 30, through which the core I I is advanced. The shaft 30 is provided with a keyway 32 (Fig. 2), and a plurality of sleeves 363i3 are slidably mounted on the shaft. The sleeves 3636 are keyed to the shaft 30 by means of a key 38 which is forced into the keyway 32 and keyways formed in the sleeves 36--36, of which only one, designated 39, is shown.

An annular base 40 is fastened rigidly to the shaft 3!] and is mounted rotatably on a thrust bearing 44 secured to a housing 46. An open framework 41 includes uprights 48-48, on which a ring 50 is secured, and guide sheaves 5252 are mounted on the ring 5! A helical strap 54 is secured to the guide ring 55 and to the annular base 4!], and makes a 360 revolution from the bottom thereof to the upper portion thereof. The strap 54 is provided with holes 56-55, one for each wire, spaced at equal distances along the entire length thereof, and guide sheaves 5858 are mounted on the strap 54 in positions such as to guide the wires Ill-l0 to the guide sheaves 52-52 on the ring 50.

Each of the several sleeves 363 mounted one on top of the other on the hollow shaft 30 is identical, and for purposes of simplicity,-only the upper sleeve 33 and its associated elements will be described in detail. Annular reel-holders 5-59 rest one on top of the other, and are keyed to the sleeves'3B-35 by means of keys, of which a key 69 is shown. Cylindrical portions 62--62 of the reel-holders act as radial bearings for annular inner flanges 64-64 projecting from the upper portions of reels 65-66 having supplies of wire 68-458 thereon. The flanges 64-54 rest on friction rings Hi-H1 secured to the upper faces of annular outer flanges 12-12 of the reelholders 59-59. Each of the flanges l2-l2 is positioned near the bottom of its reel-holder. The reel-holders 59-59 are thicker than th reels tit-46, and the combined thickness of each of the flanges 64 E54, the friction rings Hi-16 and the flanges l2-T2 is less than the thickness of each of the central portions of the reel-holders. Hence, each of the reels is held out of contact with the reels adjacent thereto.

An annular comb having rows of pins 82-82 and 84-84 guides the wires Iii-l0 from the sheaves 52-52 to the core I'! at equally spaced tated therewith. The comb also is detachable from the shaft 30 to remove the sleeves 36-36 therefrom. Each of the sleeves 3636 with the elements carried thereby may be removed from the shaft 36 by sliding it upwardly off the shaft after removing the comb 80 from the shaft. One of the sleeves so removed is shown on a winding arbor 86 in Fig. 4. Flanged rings 81 and 88 clamp the end reels against rotation relative to the arbor, and a bolt 90 projecting through holes 92-92 in the reels secures the reels against rotation relative to one another. When the arbor is rotated, the reels are rotated as a unit therewith to wind wires (-40 from supply spools 94-94 thereon. A distributor 96 traverses the reels to distribute the wires on the reels. After the reels are filled, the ring 81 may be detached from the arbor 86, and the filled supply unit is removed therefrom and is placed on the server when needed.

Operation The core H is advanced from the supply 12 around the guide sheave I6, through the hollow shaft 30, the serving head [8 and the guides 20 and 2|, and around the sheave 22 by the capstan Hi. The serving head i8 is rotated around the core Il' continuously, and the wires l6i0 are advanced from the reels 66-66 over the guide sheaves 58-58 and 52-52 to the comb 8B and are served upon the core. As the wires are pulled from the reels 66-66, the reels are rotated on the bearings 62-62, and are aifected equally by the friction rings 'iEl10 so that equal tensions are placed on the wires Hl iG. Hence, the rotation of the reels 66-66 may vary in accordance with variations of the supply of wire on each of the reels. Each of the wires Ifl-Hl travels horizontally from its respective reel 66 to its respective guide sheave 58.

Whenever it is desired to replenish the wire on the reels 666B when the core is exhausted, the wires are cut and the comb 80 is removed from the shaft 36. The sleeves 3636 are slid upwardly on the shaft 30 and are removed therefrom with the holders and the reels carried by the sleeves as units. Units identical with the units just removed having reels filled with wire thereon then are slid onto the shaft 30 to fill the shaft 30, the comb 80 is replaced on the serving head, the wires are strung up through the sheaves 5858 and 5252 and between the pins 82-82 and 84-434 of the comb T0. The wires then are fastened to a new core strung up through the shaft 30.

The above-described apparatus maintains equal tensions on the wires l0!6 being served on the core I! regardless of any variation in the condition of the wires supplied on the reels 66-66. The wires may be easily replaced and supplied to the serving head, inasmuch as extra units may be provided and kept full to be substituted for units having near empty reels. Furthermore, by having the wires wound on individual reels long lengths of wire may be provided. For example, suflicient lengths of wires to completely cover a core of a mile in length may be carried by the reels so that no splicing operations on the wires l0l0 is required.

What is claimed is:

1. A strand-handling unit, which comprises a plurality of annular reel-holders of which each has an outer peripheral flange at the bottom thereof, a plurality of vertically extending sleeves having stops at the lower ends thereof supporting the reel holders thereon in groups, means holding the reel-holders against rotation relative to the sleeves, a plurality of friction rings mounted on the flanges, a plurality of reels mounted on the holders of which each has an inner peripheral flange resting on one of the braking rings, a hollow shaft mounting the sleeves one on top of the other and splined thereto, means for rotating the shaft, and filament guides rotated with the shaft.

2. A strand-handling unit, which comprises a plurality of annular reel-holders of which each has an outer peripheral flange at the bottom thereof, a plurality of sleeves mounted vertically and having stops at the lower ends thereof supporting groups of the reel-holders thereon, means holding the reel-holders against rotation relative to the sleeve, a plurality of friction rings mounted on the flanges, a plurality of reels mounted on the holders of which each has an inner peripheral flange resting on one of the braking rings, selectively operable means for locking the reels of each group against rotation relative to one another, a hollow shaft supporting the sleeves one on top of another and splined thereto, means for rotating the shaft on a vertical axis, and filament guides rotated with the shaft.

3. A strand-handling unit, which comprises a plurality of groups of substantially identical annular reel-holders of which each has an outer peripheral flange at the bottom thereof and a predetermined length, a plurality of sleeves each having a stop at the lower end thereof supporting a group of the reel-holders thereon and mounted vertically in end to end relationship, means holding the reel-holders against rotation relative to the sleeves, a plurality of substantially identical friction rings mounted on the flanges, a plurality of substantially identical reels mounted on the holders of which each has an inner peripheral flange resting on one of the friction rings, the length of each reel being less than that of one of the reel holders and the combined thickness of the flange on one of the reel-holders, one of the friction rings and one of the flanges on the reels being less than the length of one of the reelholders, a hollow shaft disposed vertically supporting the sleeves thereon and splined thereto, means for rotating the shaft, and filament guides carried with the shaft.

4. A serving head, which comprises a hollow shaft, means for rotating the hollow shaft on a vertical axis, a plurality of sleeves having stops on the lower ends thereof splined to the shaft in end to end relationship, a plurality of reelholders having outwardly directed flanges mounted in groups on the sleeves and splined thereto, friction rings mounted on the upper faces of the flanges, a plurality of reels having inwardly directed flanges resting on the friction rings, and a plurality of filament guides rotated with the shaft.

JAMES O. HAMILTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Glahn Aug. 8, 1950 

